Multi-plex named
After being open for a year, Virden's state-of-the-art recreational facility has been given its name.
At the annual Virden Indoor Rodeo, the town's Mayor made the announcement that the facility will now be called the Tundra Oil and Gas Place, the Virden Empire-Advance reports.
The name of the facility had been left open for offers for some time, so the Town of Virden decided to go with the Richardson Foundation, which is connected to the Tundra name.
The foundation and Tundra gave large contributions to help make the multi-plex a possibility in Virden, while the oil and gas industry is a major economic booster in the community.
Mavericks momentum
People in Minnedosa are excited about their baseball team going down in history.
 The Minnedosa Mavericks have won a seventh consecutive league title in the Santa Clara Baseball League. The team's achievement is a record for the league, The Minnedosa Tribune tells its readers, for the most consecutive titles ever won.
The Mavericks roster features players from Minnedosa, Neepawa, Erickson, Elkhorn, Virden and Brandon, and the team competes in the same league as the Neepawa Cubs.
Minnedosa defeated the Carberry Royals 3-1 in a best-of-five series, including a 17-3 thrashing in Game 4, to win the title.
Filipino Elvis
Residents at Willow View Lodge in Reston sure got an interesting surprise recently.
The Reston Rocket reports Filipino Elvis impersonator Elvisaya – a combination of Elvis and the performer's homeland of the Visayan Islands, Philippines - gave the residents something to swoon over Aug. 17.
Elvisaya, or Jon Baunsit as his friends call him when he's off the stage, has been doing Elvis tribute shows since 2001, debuting in Winnipeg, and has since performed across North America and the Caribbean.
Baunsit often introduces himself as the Filipino Elvis, but some of his audience members often mishear his introduction and proceed call him Jalapeno Elvis instead.
Multicultural festival
People in Souris are embracing and celebrating its area's diverse ethnic background.
 The Souris Plaindealer writes that Aug. 19 marked the third annual Souris Glenwood Multicultural Festival.
One of the highlights of the day was the ethnic food available for trying; Colombian, Hutterite, Ukrainian, Filipino, Mexican, English and Scottish menu items were all available.
The festival also featured entertainers, dancers and bands from Mauritius, Latin America, Korea, Canada's North, Japan and the Philippines.
Goin' Bananas
 Another festival in The Corner Pocket area earlier last month was the Melita Banana Days.
 The Melita New Era features a two-page spread of the event and a front page story, explaining its big annual summer event drew in the crowds.
Some of the weekend's events include a Cruisers Car Show, used book sale, Best Ball golf tournament and a free Zumba class.
The Ultimate Banana Belt Experience saw 14 teams register to compete all weekend to complete 100 tasks over the weekend such as stacking buns from the bakery, taking random photos and guessing ice cream flavours, with the top team splitting a $1,000 prize.
Sunday, The Banana Blast-Off featured games and activities for people of all ages.
Bridge survey
 The Souris Plaindealer is leading the charge to have the $5.5 million plans for replacing the town's famed swinging bridge changed.
The paper handed out a survey to people in that community to complete, and heard back that 76 per cent of respondents believe the $5.5 million cost was not acceptable.
68 per cent also said they felt they weren't informed well enough about the bridge decision, and 58 per cent felt the community should explore other designs/prices before beginning the project.
One of the issues brought up by the paper is that the community was not asked for input before the council made a decision on the new design for the bridge.
The former swinging bridge was cut loose during the flood last year.